What About EMI's Copy-Protected CDs? DRM vs. Computer Security

This article by EFF rebinds us of the incompatibility between legal protection for DRM (Digital Rights Management, Digital Restrictions Management, Technical Measures abused by copyright holders) and computer security. This is an issue raised previously by an official of the US Department of Homeland Security. In this case there is a need for security researchers to not only get around the USA's DMCA, but an End User License Agreement (EULA) in order to do required security research on EMI's "Copy Protected" CDs.

Canadians must demand legal protection from technical measures (ab)used by copyright holders. We need to clarify the law to ensure that reverse engineering for compatibility and security research is a protected right, including allowing for the public disclosure of any interfaces and/or vulnerability. What the incumbent intermediaries are asking for with the ratification of WIPO is the introduction of a legal loophole to hide activities that should be understood as illegal, ranging from attacks on computer security to hiding copyright infringements (IE: DRM can be used to hide from copyright holders infringements of copyright committed by the intermediaries).